ACSOL: Legal Scholars to Consider Elimination of Public Registry Next Week
Members of the American Law Institute (ALI), the most important and prestigious organization of legal scholars and prominent attorneys in the nation, will consider a proposal next week that could significantly change the nation’s sex offender laws. The most significant of those changes would be the elimination of public registries in all 50 state. The proposal also includes, but is not limited to, recommendations to abolish all public notification laws as well as most residency restrictions, internet restrictions and GPS location monitoring.
Those who oppose the proposal include journalist William Dobbs because he believes the ALI proposal does not go far enough. Instead of restricting the registry only to law enforcement officials, Dobbs advocates the total elimination of all sex offender registries.
[FAC NOTE: We agree with Dobbs – the registry needs to be abolished in it’s entirety.]
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Helpful info below re ALI’s Model Penal Code and its influence on state law.
I’m going to assume that FL is one of the 17 states that disregards MPCs. Hopefully I am wrong.
But but but……..
Let’s please not get greedy. If we threat all or nothing, we might shoot outselves in the foot. If we can at least get off the public registry, we can work on abolisment in its entirety later.
Just like when one of us tries to get off the registry, it is less likely to get push back than when we try and get everyone off at once. Not saying we shouldn’t try, just saying sometimes baby steps work better than ramming ideas down law makers throats.
I for one will take any win I can get. Heck I celebrated when I got my license renewed this year and they was only a small statue # on the front instead of the HUGE one they threatened to print.
Having said that, if sucessful, I sure won’t complain. Just worried be TOO radical back fires in our faces.
CherokeeJack,
With all due respect, it’s been over 25 yrs of the SOR. How much longer do you feel we need to take “baby steps”? We’ve been taking these baby steps for over 2 decades. It’s time to tell it like it is and shut this thing down.
Maestro
If a judge cannot over throw the registry (Michigan was a hot mess) who are these people to take on the U.S vs. the People on the registry?
That is all I am saying. I guess there point is, if you want to prove you got balls, Pass over the little guys and step into the ring with Mike Tyson???
Maestro/CherokeeJack:
The judge hasn’t signed the final order yet in Michigan. Wait until he signs the final order and you will see how many come off of the registry.
The registry has been on hold since February 14, 2020 in Michigan and is still on hold. A lot of people haven’t registered since 2019. Wait until they tell those 34,000 people they have to go back registering (for the ones whose registration hasn’t expired).
Michigan is going to get a one/two punch. First they’re going to have to get people to register who hasn’t registered in almost 2 years and then the judge will sign the final order which will take them back off.
I’m just sitting back waiting to see how they handle this.
Detroit
Not to be disrespectful, but Michigan has had Government issues for years. Robo Cop was based on Detroit at the time being the higest crime rate in the nation. The water scandel was another crazy issue. I mean water and food and the two essentials required for life along with oxygen to breath.
Having said that, if state like Michigan can throw out the registry successfully, hopefully other states can follow. Just hope I am not in the old folks home by then. Oh wait, we are not allowed in Nursing homes. Shit we cannot even go to Hurricane shelters during a storm. We have to take our chances and ride it out.
The Michigan State Police have already notified people that a new registry law has been passed and signed by the governor this past March. I had to report again in person in April. Very little was changed from the old law to the new one. The belief was that the federal judge was going to have to approve any new law BEFORE it was enacted. That didn’t happen. The fact is that the judge gave the state the hint that all it had to do was enact a new law modeled after the federal registry law. I hope I’m wrong, but that judge has been silent about this new law in Michigan. The judge could have and should have acted by now if he was going to eliminate Michigan’s registry. Don’t hold Michigan up as an example for the rest of the country. You will be disappointed.
Gerald:
If you are currently registering then you are not aware of the current situation in Michigan. The registry is on hold in Michigan and you are not required to register until the covid pandemic is over and you receive notice from the state. The letter that you received relates to the new law and you are confusing the new law with the court’s orders. They cannot enforce the new law until the covid emergency is over.
I have done some of the registry related legal research in the past and am in contact with the Does attorneys on occasion. I am currently working with attorneys to plan litigation post Does. We cannot do anything until the Judge Cleland issues a final order. We will be opening an office to specifically address registry related litigation. To be successful in litigation you need extensive pretrial preparation. We have been going through pretrial preparation to prepare for future litigation. I am at the center of this pretrial preparation, am working on the legal issues on a daily basis so have a grasp of the legal aspect of registration. Even though I am not involved in the Does litigation I have a good grasp of the legal issues and implications. You are free to register if you wish but I believe you are misapprehending the current situation and allowing your paranoia to get the best of you. Michigan is and will continue to be the state in front of the registry debate for the forseeable future. What occurs in Michigan will affect the registries of the various states.
Detroit, I’m not a lawyer and I wouldn’t expect anyone to accept my comments as legal advice. But the ACLU attorneys are the ones handling the registry case in Michigan. Their current factsheet on the case specifically notes that while they have requested a final judgment from the federal court in the case, that decision WILL NOT AFFECT THE NEWLY ENACTED LAW IN MICHIGAN. The ACLU plans to attack that new law as also being unconstitutional, but the fact is that it IS the law now that we have to follow in Michigan. If you wish to ignore it, you will be subject to arrest, prosecution, and imprisonment. If you can afford an attorney to fight your conviction, you won’t automatically be able to file an appeal in federal court, because it’s a brand new law. You would need to follow the usual steps, first to the Michigan Court of Appeals, then the Michigan Supreme Court, and then federal court. That process will take years, and you would be sitting in prison the whole time. I encourage everyone on the registry in Michigan to read the official comments from the ACLU.
https://www.aclumich.org/sites/default/files/field_documents/aclu_updates_on_michigans_sora_4.14.21_final.pdf
Cherokee jack, as long as the laws are different for me than for any other citizen of both Florida and the USA, then discrimination (Jim Crow) exists.
This government blacklist must end!
(It must not be allowed to exist in any shape or form lest it metastasize once again.) Half measures are anathema to our freedom.
It states that they will consider a proposal. Any idea who actually proposed it in the first place?
Do we want ALI to submit an amicus brief in our Ex Post Facto Plus challenge? Would it matter much if they did?
Have their amicus briefs influenced court decisions? I just don’t see how this development “could significantly change the nation’s SEC offender laws,” as ACSOL puts it, or even change anything at all.
Jacob:
Getting a proposal from ALI is bigger than getting this from the ABA or a group of state bars. The ABA can affect some legislation but not like the ALI can.
The ALI puts out the model penal code that most states look to whenever they write penal legislation.
Rest assured, this is huge.
It’s time to stop living in a fantasy world where what is being done is clearly not working. It’s simply being done because it makes some people feel good, at the high cost of the lives of others. That’s just wrong.
It’s time to face reality. Enabling people to continue living in fear is not a good thing. It’s a very bad thing. It needs to be fixed. They need to face reality for their own good.
Why do we even have people who refuse to deal with reality working in our legal system?